Site & Page Tools

Setting the Teen Dating Violence Research Agenda

Teen dating violence — also called intimate relationship violence, intimate partner violence among adolescents, or adolescent relationship abuse — includes physical, psychological or sexual abuse; harassment; and/or stalking of any person ages 12 to 18 in the context of a past or present romantic or consensual relationship. Research into teen dating violence remains a relatively new field of study. As with all emerging areas of research, the development of a valid research agenda is necessary to ensure a more systematic and comprehensive approach to the funding and execution of research and evaluation projects.

To that end, NIJ has sponsored four research meetings, helped launch an interagency workgroup, and with the members of that workgroup, funded the development of concept maps related to teen dating violence.

The creation of the Federal Interagency Workgroup on Teen Dating Violence was one outcome of the 2006 Workshop on Teen Dating Violence. The workgroup is composed of representatives from 18 agencies representing the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, Education and Defense as well as the Office of the Vice President.

The workgroup has met regularly since September 2006 to share information and coordinate teen dating violence programs, policy and research activities to combat teen dating violence from a public health perspective. Participating agencies have collaborated on several joint efforts, including cohosting the December 2007 workshop and sponsoring the Concept Mapping Project.

In the emerging area of teen dating violence research, it is important that the definitions and concepts that researchers and practitioners use to define teen dating violence also resonate with young people. Concept mapping can help researchers understand how much overlap exists between how adults and young people think of different facets of teen dating relationships, including dating abuse, by producing visual representations of how each group organizes its ideas and opinions on the subject.​

NIJ, along with its partners in the Federal Interagency Workgroup on Teen Dating Violence, funded the development of concept maps on adolescent relationship abuse.